Method of making ink transfer ribbons



May 6, 1958 G. G. NEIDICH 2,333,666

I METHOD OF MAKING INK TRANSFER RIBBONS Filed Oct. 18, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR,

/ GEORGE G. NEIDICH HIS ATTORNEY? y 6, 1958 G. G. NEIDICH 2,833,666

METHOD OF MAKING INK TRANSFER RIBBONS Filed Oct. 18, 1954 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR,

GEORGE G. NEIDICH HIS ATTORNEY:

] nite zesasss Mnrnon or MAKING INKTRANSFER RIBBONS Application ()ctoher 18, 1954, Serial No. 462,815

2 Claims. (Cl. 117-4) This invention relates to a method of manufacturing ink transfer ribbons and more particularly, for the quantity manufacture of ink transfer ribbons such as those employed on typewriters and other printing devices, one object of this invention being the provision of a more rapid, economical and efficient method of carrying out this object.

Ink impregnated ribbons of this description have been commonly manufactured by forming a ribbon of textile or other suitable material of the desired ribbon width and with selvage edges and impregnating it with ink. This, however, has proved to be an expensive-and time consuming procedure, unsuited for low cost, high volume production of these articles. Another object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a more facile and economical method for producing ink impregnated ribbons in quantity by continuously impregnating a relatively wide moving web with ink, and simultaneously slitting said web into a number of ribbons of the proper width for use in ribbon printing devices.

"Such slitting of an ink impregnated web, however, producesribbons which tend to unravel at their slitedges, thereby producing an unfinished, unsightly and unsatisfactory product. Furthermore, the ink from the web tends to foul the slitting mechanism and intermingle inks of different colors, thus defacing the ribbons. Another object is to solve these problems by the provision of an efficientmethod which binds the ribbon edges as they are cut or slit, and without commingling the respective inks.

Further objects include the provision of a method of inking and slitting ink transfer ribbons'that is practical, economical and readily adaptable to various requirements and which does not require the use of complicated and expensive equipment.

To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts and method steps, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings;

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an apparatus embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged schematic elevational view, partly in section, of the slitting means shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary schematic elevational view of the slitting means shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line 44 in Fig. 1; 'and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a masking plate removed from the nozzle.

A machine embodying the present invention as shown by way of illustration preferably comprises a shaft adapted to support and rotate a roll 11 of web or ribbon material 12 of any desired width, but preferably Wide enough to form a plurality of ribbons. From the roll 11 the ribbon passes over an idler roll 13, under a brake or tension controlling roller 14 and up over another idler roller 15. The tension roller 14 is rotaatablymounted ice on a lever 16 pivotally mounted on a spindle 17. The lever has an arm 18 extending at substantially right angles to the arm carrying roller 14, and this angular arm is pivotally connected with a link or rod 19. Rod 19 has a collar or other suitable length-adjusting means 20, and its other end is pivotally connected with one arm 21 of a brake shoe 22 forming one of a pair of pivotallyconnected shoes of known variety, arranged to frictionally engage and brake the rotation of shaft 10 of the ribbon supply roll.

It will be seen from the above description that when tension in the ribbon falls below a desired degree, roll 14 is lowered so as to exert a pull on rod 19 and operate the brake shoes to apply resistance to the rotation of the ribbon supply roll and thus increase the ribbon tension. By adjusting the collar 20, the optimum positions of the tension roll 14 and brake lever 16 are established for automatically maintaining the desired degree of tension in the ribbon. While a tensioning device of the above character has been successfully employed, it is contemplated that other known tensioning devices may be substituted, such as a hydraulic or electric relay system, as well understood in the art, as the particular details of this device form no part of the present invention.

From the above tensioning device, the ribbon passes over an idler roller 23 and thence across and against an ink-supply nozzle head indicated generally at 24, forming part of an ink supply means and constructed as hereinafter described. From this nozzle of the ink supply means, the ribbon passes over another idler roll 25, through the slitting and binding means shown generally at 26, and thence between a pair of driving or feed rollers 27 and 28, rotated by means hereinafter described for feeding the ribbon across the said nozzle. As shown, the idler rolls 23 and 25 are so positioned that the intermediate free portion of the tensioned ribbon is pressed against the nozzle orifices to close'the same against any free discharge of ink.

The ink supply means comprises means for holding a supply of ink of each of one or more colors and forcing it under pressure to the corresponding orifice of the nozzle means 24. While such supply means may obviously take various forms, whe have found it advantageous to employ a gravity head pressure on the ink at the discharge orifice and for this purpose have employed ink reservoirs or containers 29, 3t) and 31, one for ink of each diflerent color. The bottom of each reservoir is connected by a flexible tube 32 with a passageway 33 in the nozzle head 24 (Figs. 1 and 4), each tube being-controlled by a valve 34. Each container is supported in the present instance by a cable as 35 running over a pulley 36 on a spindle 37 and thence to a pulley or drum 233 rotatably supported on a standard (not shown) and rotated by means of a hand crank 39, as shown. By turning the crank and retracting or paying out the cable, the corresponding container is raised or lowered so as to increase or decrease the gravity head and the pressure of the ink in the discharge orifice. Each drum 38 is provided with a latching pawl 40 or other known and suitable means for releasably securing it in adjusted position.

While nozzle head 24 may be of any desired construction, it has been found that the interchangeable orifice type disclosed and claimed in copending application Serial No. 462,774, filed October 18, 1954, is particularly useful for this purpose. This type of nozzle comprises a solid cylindrical body 41 (Fig. 4) extending transversely to the path of movement of the ribbon. A plurality of openings 33, one for each color of ink to be used, are drilled in the upper suriace of body 41 to form inlets which are connected to flexible tubes 32, as described above. Each opening 33 communicates with a longitudinally extending slot 42 formed in'the lower surface of the body 41, in

i atented May 6, 1958 the portion of the circumference thereof contacted by the moving ribbon. These slots are covered by a thin flexible metal masking plate 43 which is held in place by bolts 44 engaging threaded holes in lugs 45, on body portion41. Masking plate 43 (Fig. 5) is pierced by a series of openings or slits 46 registering with slots 42 and having a longer dimension corresponding with the width of a colored band to be placed on the ribbon.

The various colored inks pass through the openings 33, and thence to. slots 42 which are in register with the openings 46 in plate 43. As the ribbon passes under the nozzle head 24, in contact with plate 43 .as described above, the. ink issuing fromeach opening 46 is deposited on the portion of theribbon passing thereunder in the form of a band, of uniform width.

The. amount of ink placed on the ribbon may be closely controlled by varying the pressure of the ink supply by of colored ribbons, as is morefully described in the above mentioned copending application covering the construction of the nozzle head. However, as stated above, this invention is notdependent on the method of applying ink to the ribbon, as any practical method could be used. The slitting means 26 (Figs. 1, 2, and 3) preferably comprises a spaced series of circular knives 50 mounted on transversely extending shafts 51, and resiliently held incontact with an anvil roller 52. Shafts 51 are retatably mounted in movable frames 53 which, in turn, are pivoted on axis 54 parallel thereto. Circular knives 50 are .held in resilient contact with anvil roller 52 by means of helical springs 55 connected to frames 53 and to screws 56 which threadedly engage a portion 57 of the frame of the machine. The tension of springs 55 may be controlled by adjustment of screws 56 to adjust the force with which the knives bear against the anvil.

Circular knives 50 rotate in contact with a glue roller 58 whichrotates in a trough 59 containing a supply of glue or other similar substance 60 (Fig. 2) maintained at a constant level by some suitable and known device (not shown). The surface of roller 58 picks up a film of glue and transfers the same to the periphery of circular knives 50 which, in turn, transfer it to the fibers of the ribbon material as they. are being cut. The thickness of the film of glue carried by the roller is regulated by an adjustable doctor blade 61 which scrapes the excess glue from the portion of the surface of roller 58 leaving the trough. The glue is thus applied to the fibers simultaneously with the cutting thereof, binding the extreme ends thereof, adjacent to the cut, thereby preventing them from unraveling. d 7

Since the sharp edges of circular knives can carry only a very small amount of glue, and since this glue is applied on to the portions of :the ribbon directly adjacent to the slit edges thereof, the glue cannot interfere with the inked surface of the ribbon. In this manner, the edges of the ribbon are effectively bound to prevent ravelingybut the efficiency thereof is not adversely affected.

After being slit and glued, the ribbons travel upwardly overan idle roller 62, through driving rollers 27 and 28, and thence to a take up roll or spool 63. These parts are driven by any suitable and known means, such as an electric motor. If necessary, suitable drying means may be'interposed between idle roller 62 and driving rollers 17 and 28 to accelerate the drying of the glue.

In this manner, a plurality of ribbons may be manufactured in one operation from a single wide strip. of material. The width and arrangement of the bands of color may be conveniently varied by varying the arrangement of the openingsin masking plate 43. The widths of the finished ribbons are controlled by varying the transverse spacing of the circular knives. Thus, it is possible to manufacture any combination of ribbons, single or multicolored, wide or narrow, as desired. All of the cut edges of these ribbons are automatically sealed or bound by a thin film of glue to prevent unraveling, to seal the ink impregnant from any substantial migration through the cut edges, and to present a finished appearance.

In practice, it has been found desirable to use quickdrying adhesives of the type containing volatile solvents for the binding purposes described above. Most of these I materials are not compatible with the usual types of inks used for the manufacture of ink transfer ribbons, and therefore will not readily adhere to ink saturated fibers. In order to overcome this difficulty, it has been found desirable to leave a narrow strip of uninked material along the edges of each ribbon. This is easily accomplished by controlling the laterial spacing of the openings 46 in masking plate 43 so that adjacent bands of ink are laterally spaced, and slitting the material along the resulting uninked strip, as shown in Fig. 3, the ink impregnant not having sufiicient time to migrate to the slitting line at the time of slitting. This not only improves the binding power of the adhesive, but avoids staining the slitting knives with ink, keeping the operation neat and clean. Moreover, since the binding material is applied to the ink-free slit edges immediately after impregnating the web, the ink may migrate right up to the edges of the ribbon, thus producing a maximum ink-carrying surface with a minimum of migration through the bound edges thereof.

Thus, this invention accomplishes its stated objects in providing a practical way for manufacturing a large number of differing ink impregnated ribbons in one operation.- The arrangement of the colors and the width of the finished ribbons may be varied through an almost infinite variety of combinations to suit the requirements of the trade. versatile and flexible means for the manufacture of ink impregnated ribbons in quantities at very low cost.

It will thus be seen that the invention accomplishes its objects and while it has been herein disclosed by reference to apparatus and method steps of the particular nature preferred, it is understood that such disclosure is intended in an illustrative, rather than a limiting sense, as it is contemplated that various modifications in the details and' order of such steps will readily occur to those skilled in the art, within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 7 t

l. The method of simultaneously manufacturing a plurality of separate ink transfer ribbons of the same or difierent colors comprising the steps offeeding a continuous web in contact with a plurality of laterally spaced inking means of the desired color for impregnating same with parallel bands of ink with each band being separated. by a narrow uninked strip, cutting said web in lines between adjacent bands along the uninked strips, and applying to the cut edges of the web a liquid adhesive binding material, said web being cut before the ink has sufficient time. to migrate to the cutting line and said binding material being applied before the ink impregnant has sufficient time to migrate to the cut edges, whereby the cutting of the web along the uninked strips avoids staining of the cutting means, .the application of the Thus, this invention provides an extremely i References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS How May 17, 1904 Newton May 31, 1910 6 -Freydberg July 9, 1918 Hutchingson Feb. 15, 1921 Hoffman May 9, 1922 Edmondson May 10, 1932 Pelton May 29, 1934 Abrams et a1 Aug. 10, 1937 Issartel et a1 June 11, 1940 Newman Mar. 11, 1952 

1. THE METHOD OF SIMULTANEOUSLY MANUFACTURING A PLURALITY OF SEPARATE INK TRANSFER RIBBONS OF THE SAME OR DIFFERENT COLORS COMPRISING THE STEPS OF FEEDING A CONTINUOUS WEB IN CONTACT WITH A PLURALITY OF LATERALLY SPACED INKING MEANS OF THE DESIRED COLOR FOR IMPREGNATING SAME WITH PARALLEL BANDS OF INK WITH EACH BAND BEING SEPARATED BY A NARROW UNLINED STRIP, CUTTING SAID WEB IN LINES BETWEEN ADJACENT BANDS ALOG THE UNINKED STRIPS, AND APPLYING TO THE CUT EDGES OF THE WEB A LIQUID ADHESIVE BINDING MATERIAL, SAID WEB BEING CUT BEFORE THE INK HAS SUFFICIENT TIME TO MIGRATE TO THE CUTTING LINE AND SAID BINDING MATERIAL BEING APPLIED BEFORE THE INK IMPREGNANT HAS SUFFICIENT TIME TO MIGRATE TO THE CUT EDGES, WHEREBY THE CUTTING OF THE WEB ALONG THE UNINKED STRIPS AVOIDS STAINING OF THE CUTTING MEANS, THE APPLICATION OF THE BINDING MATERIAL TO EDGES WHICH ARE INK-FREE PRODUCES MORE STRONGLY BONDED EDGES, AND THE APPLICATION OF THE BINDING MATERIAL ONLY TO THE CUT EDGES PERMITTING THE MIGRATION OF THE INK IMPREGNANT THERETO PRODUCES RIBBONS HAVING INCREASED INK-CARRYING SURFACES. 